The Fading Echo
by Alma
Summary: A dark violent enemy leads Cloud to his painful demise.


The rain poured around me, sliding off my blade into the mud and matting my blonde hair to my forehead. I squinted through the wind and needles of rain, trying to see my enemy, holding the slippery handle of my sword posed in front of me, ready to fight.   
  
Tifa's body lay next to me, blood mixing with the mud around her lifeless form. Her chocolate hair was coated with a red sheen of crimson liquid. Cid lay a few feet away, facedown in the muddy waters, next to Barret's decapitated corpse.   
  
Tears fell freely from my eyes, masked by the rain. My mind was racing and my heart was aching. I had witnessed all of my friends die before me. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and my eyes darted around the woods, paranoid at the slightest sound or sight.  
  
Thunder cracked above me, lightning illuminating the forest in an eerie pale glow, reflecting off the bodies of my fallen companions. My breath quickened and I wiped the tears away from my face.   
  
What was I to do? I was going to die, I was sure of it... Everybody was dead...everyone was gone...   
  
My entire body shook and quivered with fright and my breath came in short quick gasps.   
  
My eyes fell upon Yuffie's impaled body on its side in the river of rain and blood, her pale features deformed and twisted from her murderer's attack. I blinked away tears and let out a small sob of hopelessness.   
  
This can't be happening...  
  
I shivered, soaked in rain, blood dripping down my forehead from the brutal attack which nearly killed me...nearly. I was going to die.  
  
I looked down at Tifa as thunder cracked above me again, her ghastly image unrealistic, blood spewing from her side and from the corners of her scarlet lips. I let out another moan of sorrow and looked away from her morbid sight.  
  
My pulse raced with fear and paranoia rose as survival instincts were already well kicked in. I jumped at every sound I heard from the forest, my lip shaking and my muscles tense. Where was the beast hiding?  
  
"Cloud," the cruel voice growled, close to my ear.   
  
I jumped and twisted around to find the winged beast staring straight at me.   
  
"S...stay away from me!" I shouted, my voice wavering.   
  
"I didn't want to hurt you Cloud or anyone else. But I am a prisoner in my own body, you must understand. I am becoming more animalistic each day, giving into the feeding forces within my soul, turning me into this beast against my will...forcing me to admit that I have become this horrible creature that stands before you. A creature created by my sins," the winged beast shook as he spoke, the rain sliding off his sleek leathery wings.   
  
Blood and rain dripped from his claws from the fresh kills.   
  
"W..why..d,didn't you kill me when you had the chance?" I stared into the demon's red eyes, knowing somewhere deep inside of his soul, my friend was trapped.  
  
"You're the only other one who can relate to me and understand me," the devil growled, noticeably trying to control his movements from ripping my heart out.  
  
I noticed that Vincent was in control of the beast for now, and my fear began to slowly die down. Rain poured down my face still and I calmly spoke to Vincent.  
  
"...I know what it's like to be controlled by a being within you. The horrible bond between you and Chaos is similar to the struggle I have with Jenova..." I told the creature, his wings flapping hard, his claws inches from tearing into my flesh.  
  
"I don't want to hurt you, but Chaos is taking over more and more of my mind with each passing moment. I'm keeping the beast at bay for now within me, but I don't know when it will take over again... Please, I will kill you if you stay here, like I almost did before..." his eyes trailed up to the bloody gash on my forehead, a lucky swipe that I could've easily died from.   
  
A silence fell between us as the rain continued drenching the dreary gray woods.   
  
We all have demons within...a person inside of us who is not really ourselves, but always trying to gain control... I knew that horrid feeling very well.   
  
Tears welled up again at the thought of Tifa...  
  
"You killed them all, Vincent! I understand you're struggling with Chaos, but I'm the only one left...you've killed everyone so just kill me too!" I shouted suddenly, angry at him for all the pain he's caused, selfish for myself and not caring about Vincent's inner-dilemma. He's murdered Tifa...   
  
Adrenaline still fueled me and the cold rain froze my skin. I shook with fear of the huge winged demon in front of me, capable of killing me instantly and easily overwhelming me in a battle. I tried to remain strong, holding my sword pointed at him.  
  
"Understand Cloud, that I have tried not to kill. I don't want to spill blood anymore. Please, only you can possibly understand this wretched pain I have," Chaos's face distorted into a look of sorrow and I felt a pang of sadness because I knew what he was going through.   
  
I shook my head at him, lowering my weapon. I was being selfish now and I knew it. I could never defeat Chaos just one-on-one and I was too angry at Vincent for killing Tifa and the others...it was a sad anger that burned through my heart and soul.   
  
"Please, Cloud, kill me before I kill you...before Chaos reawakens his control over me...please..." Vincent pleaded, his claw pressed against my shoulder hard. "Please! Please understand! Please help me!"   
  
His claws punctured my soft skin and I fell back, shoving his arm off of me and letting out a small cry. Blood wept from the light wound. I looked back up at him, shaking.  
  
I was afraid of Chaos, afraid of the immediate danger I would soon be in once Vincent lost control over Chaos again, perhaps he would never return to being Vincent again.   
  
Chaos was so powerful and his claws were so sharp that he barely had to apply pressure to harm me. He let out a low sad moan.   
  
"I didn't mean to, Cloud! Please, run away...stay away from me! Chaos is regaining control, transforming myself into him more and more with each second that goes by. I cannot control him much longer. Please kill me!" Vincent shivered and begged for death.   
  
Furious with him for destroying my friends I wanted to cut him down and spill his blood, but at the same time I understood Vincent and the pain he was going through dealing with the demon within, as I was dealing with my demon within. Either him or me was going to die tonight.  
  
I firmly gripped my Ultima Weapon and rose it to kill Vincent.   
  
"Please hurry! Kill me! Release me into night! Kill me now!" Vincent demanded, his wings flapping furiously now.   
  
I bit my lip as I rose my weapon, preparing to strike down my friend in anger, for him murdering my friends, and in kindness, to release him from the Hell he suffered.  
  
Suddenly, Chaos's form stopped shaking and a low growl emitted from his throat, his eyes flaring red.   
  
I swung my sword down, but Chaos suddenly struck, catching my weapon with his claw and slashing me across the face with the other. Surprised, I fell back, my vision suddenly flooded with red and an intense pain stung my cheek.   
  
I wiped the blood from my eyes and fumbled for my weapon as I felt Chaos's claw bolt out and grab my throat harshly, backing me into a tree. I felt my breath squeeze out of me. I opened my eyes, wincing against the pain as Vincent's claws tenderly ripped into the flesh around my throat.  
  
"Forgive me, Cloud. You didn't...kill me...fast enough. C, Chaos is..in...control..." Vincent sadly informed me, strings of tears streaking down his purple skin as he dug his claws deeper into my neck.   
  
I couldn't speak, adrenaline pumping through my, feeling my blood dripping from my neck down my chest. My face was covered with blood from the slash on my cheek and the gash in my forehead. I began to feel dizzy as my muscles grew weak.  
  
"K...K...ill...m..e...." I choked the words out.   
  
We both had a death wish, Vincent and I... Both praying the other would kill us and end this torture. I had lost everyone I held dear, as did Vincent. I was as good as dead, since I was bleeding to death. He was as good as dead since he was lost within the beast he had become.  
  
...just end it now, Chaos, and kill me.....  
  
"Don't be selfish, Cloud. Don't be this easy to defeat. Your friends were easy enough to kill. You'd think you might offer me a challenge of some sort," a different voice emitted from the throat of Chaos...definitely not Vincent's voice.  
  
"V...vin.cen..t?" I coughed the words out, struggling to breathe.  
  
"Vincent is no longer! It is only I, Chaos, the one true soul of the once-mortal Vincent Valentine. He succumbed to my unquestionable power and lost that inner fight with himself and me. I AM him now...entirely!" Chaos grinned, his lips pulling back to reveal several white shiny razor sharp teeth.   
  
I couldn't breathe as Chaos squeezed my throat tighter, losing more and more blood.  
  
"Cloud Strife...not so brave anymore? A member of your own party defeated you? Ha! You're weak! Just like Vincent! You're nothing without your fellow party members around to help you. Too bad they are all dead!" Chaos let out a long evil laugh. "Vincent denied knowing that I was the stronger part of him and look where that got him!"  
  
Chaos threw me to the ground, his claws wet with my blood. I stumbled in the muddy rain, blood pouring down my face and neck, pain sparking through my entire body. I knew I was dying...  
  
"G...get..away..." I coughed, sliding in the mud as I tried to back away from him.   
  
"Vincent never realized that I am his true soul, I am his true being, not that pathetic sorrowful spirit Vincent left behind years ago when he left the Turks," Chaos spat.   
  
I held my throat with my hands. The claw wounds hadn't punctured any of my main arteries, but blood flowed freely through my hands cupped around my neck. Rain was washing away the blood on my face from my slashed cheek. Watery crimson stained my clothes.   
  
"Always thought you were so strong, so brave, for defeating Sephiroth! Ha!" Chaos snarled and leapt towards me, grabbing me by the collar and swinging me into a tree.   
  
I fell to the ground, coughing and choking as warm blood got caught in my throat from my freshly split lip.  
  
"I am what Vincent is now! Vincent is dead!" Chaos roared, flying effortlessly over to me. "Shall I end your simple life now?" He bent close to my face, picking me up by the shoulders.   
  
I smiled, "Kill me..." I whispered through the pounding rain and furious wind.   
  
"So be it. If you have a death wish, Cloud Strife, then allow me to grant it..." Chaos hissed and held me in one claw, bringing the other one up to slash me down and end my life.   
  
What was the point of living if all your friends are dead? If everyone you've ever been close to has died? Everyone you've been through the worse with, everyone who'd watched your back during every battle...if they are all dead...who cares if I live?   
  
I watched Chaos's claw shimmer in the lightning, glistening with rich blood, the rain pebbling on his purple flesh, sliding off his sleek wings...  
  
"W..what..about...her.." I weakly asked, blood dripping from my chin.  
  
Chaos stopped in mid-swipe, puzzled.   
  
"Her?" He growled in confusion.  
  
"Lu.c..cre..cia..." I reminded him.   
  
"Lucrecia?" Suddenly the demon's eyes grew very sad.  
  
"Does...Vin..cent...love..her?" Chaos held me tighter with his claw and I could barely talk.  
  
"Vincent...is no longer!" Chaos insisted, putting up his claw to strike me again.   
  
"Did he love...her?" I coughed severely, blood caught in my throat again.  
  
Chaos seemed to freeze all of a sudden as if he were thinking about something, then his eyes flared angry red and he threw me with all his might into the nearest tree, my ribs cracking against the tough bark as I fell to the wet ground on my back. I cringed in pain from my broken rib, unable to move. I couldn't even cough it hurt so badly.   
  
"Vincent is no longer! Did you not hear me the first time?!" Chaos kicked me brutally in the uninjured side, cracking another rib on the other side. I writhed in the mud, clenching my teeth against the pain pulsating in my sides.   
  
"S...she...loved...you...right? Did you...love...h...her..?" I painfully whispered through the dying rain.  
  
"Shut up! Shut up!!!" Chaos flew high into the air, clenching his head.   
  
"Lucrecia!" Vincent called softly from the levitating form of Chaos, his voice barely recognizable.   
  
"No! I am the supreme ruler of this body!" Chaos's hideous voice echoed loudly throughout the forest. He looked down at me with a look of poison.   
  
Flying down right next to me, he reached out a clawed arm to grab me. I was curled up in a ball and inched away from him.   
  
"Please...no...I'm in too much pain... Don't touch me unless you intend to kill me quickly," I held my aching sides.   
  
"Vincent is dead! Lucrecia never cared for him!" Chaos insisted, pulling closer to me.   
  
"Liar...She loved Vincent... and Vincent...loved..her!" I cried out in pain.   
  
I was now trying everything possible to try to free Vincent from Chaos's grasp. Chaos wouldn't kill me without torturing me first or else I would've already been dead. And I was in too much pain now to even move from my broken ribs... Now I just needed Vincent to free himself from Chaos. I was useless in my weakened condition and with no weapon. I couldn't fight him now...  
  
"Lucrecia still...loves...you, Vincent..." I croaked.   
  
"Shut up!!!" Chaos swept over to me and picked me up by my shirt, snarling in my face, "Vincent is dead! And so will you be!"  
  
He raised his claw up, glimmering with blood and this time he didn't hesitate, bringing it straight into my chest. I felt his claws dig through my bone and puncture my heart, intense pain crippling my entire body as my lifeblood pooled onto the floor. A ghastly image of death itself reflected in my eyes as a cold current past through me, I fell.  
  
Everything was fading and I couldn't move. My body felt heavy with the weight of dead blood as I fell flat into the mud, my eyes staring at Tifa's dead body buried halfway under water from the rain, her vacant eyes staring back.  
  
I was shocked to see my own blood thickly pooled around me. I rolled my eyes up for a moment to see Chaos standing above me, his hand coated in a thick layer of my blood. He was saying something, but I couldn't hear him...I couldn't hear anything, just see the raindrops gather in a lake of my blood, warm and rich, draining out of me.   
  
My eyes cast back towards Tifa's emotionless face, her body cold, as mine would soon be. Everything grew dark and the pain went away....everything's fading and I feel like I'm falling, rain and blood my only companions around me...  
  
And Tifa... I stared into Tifa's crimson eyes as my brain slowed and I lost consciousness. ...my body feels so heavy...everythings dark.. i'm falling towards her.  
  
  
  
*View Change- Vincent's POV*  
  
I let Cloud's lifeless body slide off my bloodied claw, his dead weight falling heavily in the rain, lying next to Tifa's. I didn't want to hurt him, I didn't want to kill him...  
  
"Don't you understand that I'm you? You can never rid yourself of me!" Chaos shouted to me, cleaning off his blood-soaked skin in the rain.   
  
I was hidden deep within my own mind, taken over by a part of myself I didn't want to admit was there...the horrible experiment of Hojo's...a horrible curse to endure for my horrible sins...  
  
I sat in the corner of my big dark room that served as a hole in my soul- a place where I could sleep and dream of brighter days. My nightmares serve as my only friends to keep me company and remind me of my own wretched sins that will plague me for evermore.  
  
Chaos had won over me and in an animalistic blind rage, savagely murdered everyone I would consider a friend. I was the weaker one, I had lost...now there was nothing left for me, nobody left for me.   
  
And I am still haunted of imprinted images of Cloud's bloody face as he begged for death, his blonde hair matted with blood and rain. And you know what? I enjoyed that feeling of superiority for just one moment, the feeling of taking someone's life...  
  
I suppose I AM becoming more and more consumed by Chaos with each passing moment my dark cold world.   
  
How long will it be until I no longer exist as Vincent, but only as Chaos?   
  
OOC: Alright, I wrote this one up real fast and I don't really like it. Any suggestions on what's wrong with it? I really need some help if I want to revise it. Your reviews really mean a lot to me! (Flames too!) ^_~   



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